prairie smoke

This beautiful plant, also called Pasqueflower, is a native plant on the Canadian prairies.  It blooms early and gloriously, with large nodding purple petals and bright yellow centres.  The leaves and stems are very hairy and catch the light, and the whole effect is quite magical.

Last year (above pic) I was excited to see it produce two flowers.  Then my husband flipped over the garbage bin lid onto this raised bed, and crushed the plant flat.  Needless to say, I was a bit put out.  And moved the garbage bin.  But I guess the plant likes abuse, because it's even more glorious this year, with 10 flowers open and on their way.

Growing tips

• The pasque flower grows well in full sun or partial shade in raised beds, on hillsides, in rock gardens or in sunny borders. It’s happiest in fertile, slightly dry soil supplemented with peat moss or compost. 
• 
  
• Soil should be well drained.  Waterlogged soil at any time of year will kill it.
• 
  
• Sow fresh seeds (available from growers specializing in native plants and seeds) outdoors in late fall. Plant 10 centimetres deep and 30 to 40 centimetres apart. Plants may not bloom until the second year.
• 
  
• To propagate, take root cuttings every three to five years in early spring. Dig to expose a root—be careful to minimize damage—then remove and replant it.

After the petals fade, it produces some funky seed heads that persist a long time.

of snow and spiders

The level of the snow has gone down enough so that the birdbath is now peeking out.  The cat is finding it really easy to get a drink, but the birds will have to be really careful before they try.

I've been eyeing a spider plant baby that installed itself on top of a picture.  I peeked behind it to find that the roots have attached themselves to the back of the picture!  How strange!  It is getting nourishment from the mother plant, but finding a perch on the pic!

It was quite hard to pry the roots off the picture.  Now the baby is soaking in water in order to encourage the roots even further before I pot it up as a new plant.

snow is receeding

It's April 13, and the car is slowly emerging from a giant snow pile.  We have a long way to go before we can back out of the driveway.

These two little guys are part of a flock that has never visited our feeders before.  They are song sparrows.  I have been noticing a lot of new very melodic calls, but didn't know these were the callers.

repotting

This meyer lemon tree is beginning to leaf out, after spending the winter looking like Charlie Brown's Christmas tree - down to sticks.  I'm thinking it needs a boost, so I am going to transplant it and give it new soil.  I popped it out of the pot to check the roots, which are not very extensive, so I will not move it to a larger pot.  I'm just going to change the soil.  I'm using purchased potting soil, not the stuff from the garden, which is too heavy and full of disease and weed seeds.  One time I didn't follow my own advice and dug soil from my vegetable garden to use in pots, and I ended up with a whole pot full of tiny tomato seedlings that had been hiding in the garden!

I'm going to mix the soil with worm castings (worm poop) which is rich in nutrients.
I'm hoping the tree rewards my efforts with another nice crop of Meyer lemons.  Last year, it produced 5 beautiful, delicious fruit!

more snow complaints

PEI is now labouring under about 15 feet of snow, which is being packed down and getting heavier and heavier to move.  The oil company is refusing to deliver oil because our tank pipe is on the far, inaccessible side of the house.  We have had to pump our own oil at the gas station and take it home ourselves.  It takes a lot of trips.  The bright side is that pumping your own oil is 17 cents cheaper than having it delivered.  Yea - I know it's worth it.

This is the long and winding road to the front door.

It is getting too hard to fling the snow over the bank.

planting in the winter

The snow is high as an elephant's eye, but it's March 23, eleven weeks before the last frost (although this year may be an exception) so I'm going to plant some seeds that need a long time to grow:  petunias, peppers, and dianthus.  To work out when to plant, check the directions on the back of the seed envelope, which will tell you how many weeks before the last frost to plant your seeds.  The last frost date on PEI is about June 10, or after the new moon in June (really).

pepper seeds should be planted 3 months before the last frost.

Choosing the right planting medium is really important when starting seeds.  Don't use regular soil from outside - it's full of pathogens and weed seeds, and it is too heavy.  A purchased soil-less mix is light, sterile, and perfectly supports young seedlings.

Because this planting medium has had all the water taken out, it needs to be pre-moistened, which takes a lot more water than you might expect.  Then pack it into seed cells.  That also takes more time and more soil than you think.

After the seeds are planted (check directions to see if the seeds should be placed on top of the soil or covered) pack them down with a dibber or just use a plain old pen, like I do.

Cover the seed tray with a plastic dome, place in a bright window sill, and check every day to make sure the soil does not dry out.  For seeds that germinate slowly like these, I place a heating pad under the tray, turned very low, to keep the soil warm.  That will help them sprout faster.
Now just stand back and watch them grow!

7.3 feet

222.8 cm.  That's 7.3 feet.  That's how much snow fell on Charlottetown from February 1 to 25.
Our average yearly snowfall is 290.4 cm.

Needless to say, we are weary.  But things are looking up.  This is a before shot, but we have finally cleared the front door, and liberated the garbage bins.

Wayne did a lot of shoveling.